EDITORIAL: Cheers, Jeers and Tears

Cheers for the news that Darmstadt resident Lisa Keck has finally been cleared by the Indiana Comprehensive Insurance Association for a kidney transplant. Credit goes to Indiana State Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, who intervened on behalf of Keck.

Cheers for the Great Lakes Valley Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments which get under way at the Ford Center in Evansville later this coming week. The title sponsor of the event is Deaconess Health Systems. It will be important for Evansville to roll out the welcome mat for all of our visitors.

Jeers to the fact that flu shots given this year haven't done a very good job for senior citizens. The Associated Press reported that the shots proved only 9 percent effective.

Cheers for the delightful Feb. 21 photo/news report in the Evansville Courier & Press on six-year-old Brianna Duncan who one day hopes to be a cheerleader, and current now finds herself taken under the wing of the Evansville Harrison High School cheerleaders. Her cousins, Ernie, Stanley and Everett Duncan, play for the Harrison boys basketball team.

Tears fall for the Crossville, Ill. school, which is being closed by the Carmi-White County, Ill., School Board because of budget difficulties. Twelve teachers at Crossville will follow their students to Carmi for school in the fall.

Folks in the city and Tri-State have long known the casino on the Evansville riverfront as Casino Aztar, but in June it will be renamed as Tropicana Evansville, to reflect the name of its current owner, Nevada-based Tropicana Entertainment. Cheers with the hope that the new branding will help bring the casino continued success. The casino plans a full slate of rebranding events to be announced at a later date.

Cheers and tears honor three fallen police officers, Oakland City, Ind., officer Michael "Mike" Deno, Indiana State Trooper William J. "Joe" Trees, and Indiana State Police Sgt. John E. Hatfull, each of whom lost his life in the line of duty.

The Indiana Senate is considering resolutions to name bridges in Southern Indiana for the officers. Deno was fatally shot during a traffic stop, Trees died when he wrecked his police cruiser while pursuing a traffic violator, and Hatfull was killed while leading an emergency response team into a Posey county residence to arrest a homicidal/suicidal suspect. And cheers to retired Indiana State Police Sgt. Jim Nelson for urging these honors.

Tears fall for Sarah Teague of Madisonville, Ky., who has waged a determined campaign to bring some closure to the case of her daughter, Heather Teague, 23, who was abducted in August 1995 and was never found.

The mother has now filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Owensboro, Ky. against members of the Henderson Police Department, the Kentucky State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and some individuals, as she seeks answers about the case.

Cheers for a new Evansville business, Expressway Fiat which is, obviously, bringing the small, sporty Fiat to Evansville. The new cars are on the dealership lot at 5230 Division St., across from Harrison High School.